Download Callery or Bradford Pear

Invasive Plants in Pennsylvania
Callery or Bradford Pear
Pyrus calleryana
Description:
Habitat:
This ornamental, deciduous
tree can grow up to 40 feet in
height. The shiny green leaves
are alternate, simple and two
to three inches long. Their
margins are wavy with a
slightly-toothed margin.
Typically found along roads,
rights-of-way and old fields
where they have escaped from
landscape plantings. Callery
pears will tolerate a wide
range of soil conditions and
pollution. It prefers full sun
but will tolerate partial shade.
Biology and Spread:
The “Bradford” variety of pear
was supposed to produce
sterile fruits, but more recent
cultivars were created to resist
splitting by wind and snow.
These trees were able to cross
pollinate and produced viable
seeds that are spread by
wildlife. It also spreads
vegetatively.
Photo: Dan Tenaglia, Missouriplants.com,
www.invasive.org
Background:
Callery pear is native to Asia
and was brought to Maryland
in 1918 as rootstock for
cultivated pears. A non-spiny
seedling was selected and
named “Bradford.” This tree
became the second most
popular tree in America by the
1980s.
Range:
Reports of this tree as invasive
in southeast Pennsylvania are
starting to surface, but further
south in Maryland, Virginia
and beyond they have been
dealing with this issue for
much longer. These trees can
also be found throughout the
south and Midwest.
Photo: Chuck Bargeron, U. of Georgia,
www.invasive.org
The overall shape of the tree is
often described as teardropped or spade-like. The
bark is scaly and gray-brown
in color. Abundant small,
malodorous, white flowers
appear in spring before the
leaves emerge. Fruits are
under half an inch in diameter
and green to brown in color.
Ecological Threat:
Naturalized callery pears
compete with native early
successional trees in old fields
and hedgerows.
Photo: Britt Slattery, US Fish and Wildlife
Service, www.invasive.org
How to Control this Species:
Native Alternatives:
Manual and Mechanical
Chemical
Seedlings and shallow-rooted
trees can be pulled when soil
is moist. Small trees will
need to be dug up or pulled
out with a Weed Wrench tool
to ensure removal of all roots.
Cutting the tree, followed by
an immediate application of a
triclopyr or glyphosate
herbicide to the cut stump, is
the most practical means of
control.
There are a variety of native
ornamental trees that provide
food for wildlife or beauty in
landscapes, such as:
If cutting down the tree is not
possible, it can be girdled
during the spring or summer
by cutting through the bark
all around the trunk, about
six inches above the ground.
Herbicide can also be applied
to a girdled tree if total
removal of the tree is not
possible.
Allegheny Serviceberry
(Amelanchier laevis)
Photo: Dow Gardens, www.forestryimages.org
References:
Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health:
http://www.invasive.org/browse/subinfo.cfm?sub=10957
White Fringetree
(Chionanthus virginicus)
Invasive Exotic Plant Tutorial for Natural Lands Managers:
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/invasivetutorial/
callery_pear.htm
U.S. Forest Service Weed of the Week: http://www.na.fs.fed.us/
fhp/invasive_plants/weeds/callery_pear.pdf
Photo: Dow Gardens, www.forestryimages.org
For More Information:
Sourwood
(Oxydendrum arboretum)
Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas, National Park Service:
http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/pubs/midatlantic/
midatlantic.pdf
Invasive Plants Field and Reference Guide, U.S. Forest Service:
http://na.fs.fed.us/pubs/misc/ip/ip_field_guide.pdf
USDA PLANTS Database: http://plants.usda.gov
Photo: Richard Webb, www.forestryimages.org